Laguna Niguel is a not-quite-coastal city in the southern Orange County region of Southern California. Its would-be coastal territory to the west is split between Laguna Beach and Dana Point. It also borders Aliso Viejo in the west, Laguna Hills in the north, and Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano in the east. Like many cities in Orange County, Laguna Niguel was pre-planned and then developed in a very structured manner. It lies in a hill-peppered valley and abuts ample green space in the form of Aliso and Woods Canyons Wilderness Park to the west.

Laguna Niguel is, all in all, an affluent locale; its median income clocks in just above $100,000 per year and more than 70% of its residents own the dwellings they occupy. One noteworthy local site is the one-million-square-foot Chet Holifield Federal Building, which is shaped like a ziggurat. Primary inter-regional arteries: the 5 and 73 freeways and the Pacific Coast Highway.